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UPDATE 2-UK shares jump on vaccine optimism; banks, travel stocks shine

Published 16/11/2020, 10:43
© Reuters.
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(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Moderna vaccine 94.5% effective in interim trial data
* Vodafone surges on strong annual outlook
* Time is running out for Brexit deal, EU tells Britain
* FTSE 100 up 1.7%, FTSE 250 adds 1.8%

(Adds analyst comment, details on Moderna vaccine, updates to
close)
By Devik Jain
Nov 16 (Reuters) - British stocks jumped on Monday as
positive vaccine data from drugmaker Moderna bolstered hopes of
a swift economic recovery to pre-pandemic levels, offsetting
concerns over a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE closed 1.7% higher,
after Moderna Inc MRNA.O reported its experimental vaccine is
94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data
from a late-stage trial. Pfizer Inc PFE.N and German drugmker BioNTech SE BNTX.O
made a similar announcement on Nov. 9. British drugmaker
AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L , which is yet to release results from
its late-stage vaccine trials, fell 1%. The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC
ended 1.8% higher, with cinema operator Cineworld Group Plc
CINE.L jumping 13.5% to the top of the index. The wider travel
and leisure sub-index .FTNMX5750 gained 3.2%.
"This (vaccine news) is more evidence that an end to the
pandemic is on the horizon and that the economy can eventually
reopen without fears of further lockdowns," said David Trainer,
CEO of New Constructs, an investment research firm based in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Energy .FTNMX0530 , bank .FTNMX8350 and mining
.FTNMX1770 stocks provided the biggest boost to the FTSE 100,
which has already gained more than 15% this month, helped by a
slew of local stimulus measures and hopes of a
sooner-than-expected economic recovery.
Bank stocks also gained following news that PNC Financial
Services Group Inc PNC.N would buy the U.S. business of
Spanish lender BBVA BBVA.MC for $11.6 billion in cash.
Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L surged 6.9%, after saying it was
increasingly confident about its full-year performance, while
tech firm Smiths Group SMIN.L rose 4.8%, after highlighting a
30 million-pound cost-saving target for FY21.
Companies that have benefited from people staying home
during the pandemic, such as Rentokil Initial RTO.L , Just Eat
Takeaway.com JETJ.L and Ocado Group Plc OCDO.L , tumbled
between 3.3% and 4.1%.
Meanwhile on the Brexit front, EU warned Britain on Monday
that time was fast running out for a trade deal, as negotiators
in Brussels began a last-ditch attempt to avoid a tumultuous
exit at the end of December.

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